The Life and Tomfoolery of the Marauders
by AnagumaConscience
Summary: James, Peter, Sirius and Remus experience Hogwarts, and discover that they haven't been themselves. James/Sevy, Siri/Remie. OC and OOC
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** Wow, it's been a while since I've written anything. I sorta just didn't feel inspired at all. I bet those muses have been winning all-expense paid vacations again without inviting me. That, or they just hate me.

Um, pretty much, you don't need to know anything before going into this one, other than that it's set in the Marauders' time.

My OC is Alice. You'll meet her.

Review, and you'll get Chapter Two faster. You know the drill, I'm sure

**Ships:** James/Sevy, Siri/Remie, and _possibly _more to come. It all depends on the reviews, ma friends.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Harry Potter series, nor any of the characters, though I hear there are these utopian websites where you can publish knock offs online. Oh wow! Here we are!

**The Life and Tomfoolery of the Marauders**

**Chapter One**

_Flashback: First Year_

James Potter regarded the brick wall before him with excitement, masked, of course, with an air of superiority. He looked to his best friend, standing beside him as he had always imagined he would, and wheeled his cart around to face the wall.

"Bet you can't do it at a walk," Sirius whispered challengingly in James's ear.

"Two galleons," James held his hand out, taking the bet.

Both boys ended up chickening out, but it was just their first time. They'd still have six more chances with the bulwark at platform 9 ¾ to become the infamous Marauders, who have become legendary at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Once on the other side, they sauntered the corridors of the train, using their reputations to force past any other first years, already christened as inferior, and stood aside only for witches (at whom James winked) and upperclassmen.

Their (rather ceremonial) march ended when they reached a compartment they deemed satisfactory.

"It's just near enough to the back that we'll get the trolly fast enough," said Sirius.

"And not so near that we'll be bothered by unruly seventh years," nodded James.

Sirius grinned, the adrenaline of this adventure, their first time on the Hogwarts Express, rushed through him. He pulled open the door to the compartment, but his face immediately turned sour; it was occupied.

While Sirius was disappointed, James grinned. "Well if it isn't Miss Evans," he stepped in and greeted the young red head.

Lily turned her head away from the window, ready to be amiable to whoever had greeted her, but looked slightly disappointed when she saw James and Sirius. "Hi, James. Sirius. How was your summer?"

"Fine," Sirius turned to leave, but James caught his sleeve.

"Mind if we sit here, Lily?" James was already sitting.

"Um, I suppose not, but Se—someone is already sitting here, if you're okay with that."

"Of course, any friend of yours is a friend of mine," James smiled sweetly at her.

"Um, mate?" Sirius sat down, but remained facing the door. "Didn't we have that other person to go find or something?"

"Why—oh." James turned to the door too, and saw who Lily had been expecting: Severus Snape. Of course, James had only briefly met him; when he had been following Lily around and the two of them saw him Lily would pause and greet him politely.

Severus held a hand out and tried to greet the two of them, and James looked at it musingly, looked up at Severus's face, and turned back to Lily.

"Sirius is right. We should go." James turned, pushed past Severus, and lead Sirius into the hallway.

--

James had made a choice, and was damn happy with it. Life was good. He had three close friends, and as he faced platform 9 ¾ for his sixth time, he smiled in anticipation. Sure, he saw them plenty in the summer, but there was something different about seeing them at school. Oh yea, no parents.

His grin grew as he and Sirius took the wall at a walk, together. On the other side, he and Sirius looked around for their missing companions.

"There they are," James absent-mindedly flipped his hair out of the way, and pointed across the crowd.

"Remie! Wormy!" Sirius skipped off away from James after their friends.

"Hey guys, wow, you have changed _so much_." Remus dropped his bags to man-hug Sirius and then, in turn, James.

"Yea, from like, three days ago? I'm sure you missed me very much." Sirius picked his bags up. "Come on, let's get a seat."

"Two stunningly beautiful and amazingly competent witches approached the platform for their sixth time," Alice Troves stood, arms akimbo, with Lily Evans at the train station.

"Lacy," Lily positioned her cart to face the wall. "Stop narrating. You'll scare the muggles."

"Sev would let me." Alice also positioned her cart, and the girls went through to the platform.

"Where is he anyway?" Alice asked.

"He's probably late. Again. Let's just go get a compartment before they're all full." Lily led the way to the train to load their things, and they got on.

Quickly finding an empty compartment, they sat and started chatting. Severus Snape joined them shortly, rather quiet.

"So…what? No hug, not even a box of chocolates?" Unlike the Marauders, Alice didn't get a chance to see her friends every day over the summer, and was a little mad that Severus wasn't talking much with them.

"Sorry, Alice." Severus sighed. "How was your summer?"

"Fine. I pestered my brothers, swam, and tried to introduce my mom to Pink Floyd. Dad was gone most of the time." Alice lived in a pureblood wizarding family, though that fact was known to few: specifically, the two people in the compartment with her. It wasn't obvious that her family had such high standing; she kept it private at school, and the knowledge of her four younger brothers brought to most people's minds that she was a mudblood.

"How was your summer, Lil?" Alice knew better than to ask Severus. He was even more guarded when it came to the discussion of family than Alice.

"It was great. Mum, Dad and I went to America and visited family. Or distant relatives, or acquaintances, or someone. They were people I had never met, but it was really fun. And I win that bet, Lace. Mum now both listens to _and_ adores the Weird Sisters."

Severus retreated back to his own thoughts as he watched Alice hand Lily some coins.

"We need to come back with a bang, Siri." James reclined in the empty compartment they found, propping his feet up on the opposite bench, forcing Sirius to scoot towards Remus.

"Prongsie, of course! But stop cramming me against dear old Mooney awkwardly. I don't _do_ awkward." Sirius didn't move back when James moved his legs.

"So, wait. Are you guys like, together now?" Peter was slower, though James seemed relieved at the request for clarification.

Remus shifted in his seat.

"Yes." Sirius put his hand on Remus's thigh, and turned to look at him mock-seductively. Remus pretended to swoon, but failed to keep a straight face.

"Bravo, bravo!" James and Peter clapped at their production.

"So, what do you have in mind for this stunning return, Prongsie?"

"Well, that's why I asked you guys. We're the Marauders for a reason you know; if I could do it myself, I would."

"But you wouldn't be nearly as admired if you didn't have us," Remus said.

"So true, Moony," Sirius put his arm around Remus' shoulders thoughtfully.

"Well, the prank should be something that everyone will notice, right? So it should be something that everyone has their attention on during the feast." Peter started strategizing.

"The professors' table?" Remus suggested.

"Too obvious. The first years." Sirius had his devious smile on.

"But we could actually get in _trouble_ for that one, especially if one got hurt and their parents found out." Peter's prudence may have been the only thing that kept the group from being seriously reprimanded and punish thus far. The fact that they went undetected was thanks to the guile of the others.

"Well…the Sorting Hat, then?" As soon as James said it, he realized how clever it was. He grinned with anticipation.

"The hat it is." All four boys smiled at each other, and planned the specifics.

"Hey Sev, we're here." Lily shook Severus's shoulder. He had fallen asleep just a short time after they had all gone to change into their robes. He woke softly at Lily's touch, and gathered his things.

"Oh god. Sorting." He wrinkled his nose in disgust at the thought of the ceremony as they unloaded their things and walked towards the "horseless" carriages. "More first years added to Slytherin."

Alice nodded. "Which, of course, means that the Death Eaters will swarm like vultures to recruit. It happens in Hufflepuff to."

"There are Hufflepuff Death Eaters?" Lily was surprised. She knew that there were Gryffindor Death Eaters, but they were valued for their bravery and willingness to kill. She also knew of a few Ravenclaw supporters, and obviously Slytherin, but she had never thought a Hufflepuff could be so treacherous.

"Yea, apparently we're more evil than the world would think." She gave a mischievous smile.

"Oh goodness…" Severus shared an uneasy glance with Lily. Alice just turned and looked out the window, still smiling.

The Marauders' carriage arrived at the castle, and the four unloaded from the carriage. As they filtered in to the Great Hall with the rest of the student body and took their seats at the Gryffindor table, the familiar, annual feeling of comfort came over them. Dumbledore took his spot and everyone prepared for his speech.

"Welcome to all. For those of you here for your first time, I am Professor Dumbledore, and this is Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." He spread his arms out, motioning to the entire castle and grounds. "I hope that you will all be very comfortable here."

Dumbledore continued on with the usual rules and introduced teachers, and finally motioned to Professor McGonagall to bring out the Sorting Hat.

The four Gryffindors shifted in anticipation, carefully watching the hat.

--

**Author's Note 2:** Review, that's all I have to say. I've already got Chapter 2 started, but I refuse to post until I have at least a review or a decent number of readers. Even if you hated it, review. I don't mind flames, so long as you're willing to say it to my "face". I'd also like to know how many of you want me to continue my Voldemort fic or my Draco fic.

**A. Conscience**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:** I'm back! Look at how reliable I've become! We'll see how far I actually get though…This chapter's better, I think. It's more entertaining, and much more plot-full. Thanks to ­­­mungomij for the review, and thanks to TuRtLe88 for the awesome beta, despite her current strife with her computer.

**Dedicated: **To mungomij and TuRtLe88 for the aforementioned reasons.

**Disclaimer:** I do not know any of the original Harry Potter characters because slavery is illegal. Alice is just lucky. ;)

**The Life and Tomfoolery of the Marauders**

**Chapter Two**

_Flashback: First Year_

James and Sirius found a compartment in an equally desirable location and took their seats, starting to catch up on the few moments the two _hadn't _seen each other over the years.

"How's Reggie getting along with you going off to school?" James smirked.

"Oh, you know. He tries to prove that he's just as magically competent as I am. The tapestries are nearly as talkative as the portraits now." Sirius rolled his eyes. "I've grown more inure to headache potions, so I'm on Advil now."

"Haha. Your parents don't know then, I'm assuming? Since you're still alive?"

"James, you have so little faith in me! So, what house do you figure we'll be in?" Sirius asked, counting out coins in preparation for the trolley.

"Gryffindor or Slytherin, I suppose." James said, slowly. "We're really more cunning than brave, but I'd much rather be in Gryffindor. They get more ladies."

"And they aren't associated with my parents' horde." Sirius frowned. "I'll threaten to light that old rag on fire if I have to."

"Sounds like a plan." James smiled, and stood. "I'm going to go change into my robes."

James left the compartment, slid the door closed behind him, and started down the hallway. He had to wait outside the lavatory; it was occupied, and busied himself with thinking of threats for the Sorting Hat.

The occupant, a scrawny, tattered looking first year whom James had not met, came out, gave James a polite smile, and headed up the hallway. James went in and changed. When he came out, Severus Snape was waiting.

James barely glanced at him before he continued moving past, and wondered to himself if he had made the right choice earlier.

"Potter," James turned to look at Severus when he heard his name, but nothing came out of Severus's mouth. He closed it, and went into the lavatory.

James's heart plunged and his feet froze on the spot. He felt _guilty_. He had a _conscience_. Something was wrong, and he intended to fix it. He couldn't properly plan a decent entrance to Hogwarts in this state.

James Potter stood outside the lavatory, waiting for Snape, planning whatever act of contrition he would be able to manage. Yes, he had a long ways to go to become "Prongsie".

--

"This is it!" Sirius leaned forward excitedly, watching McGonagall approach the stool center stage. Even Remus looked amused at the thought of what would happen.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the Sorting Hat." Professor McGonagall sat the Hat down on the stool, and took her seat at the teachers' table again. She looked rather lackadaisical to be caught in the act of announcing a hat, but few noticed as the hat began to sing.

_Tome um assento, os dont temem,_

_Posso ser feio,_

_Mas amadureci com a idade._

_Cheiro engraçado,_

_De mingau de cereal e molho de carne,_

_Sou o Chapéu de Classificação que você vê._

After a moment of confused silence, in which the Hat was also no doubt rather confused, the Great Hall burst out in laughter. The Marauders high-fived and looked up to the professors' table to see Professor Dumbledore chuckling to himself as the song continued.

_Bem, Ro esteve bem para mim,_

_Embora Helly fosse repulsado._

_Godders foi o maluco,_

_E Sally embriagou-se._

James took a moment to look around at his classmates' reactions, and saw a glare from Lily's place further down the Gryffindor table.

"_Come on. It's harmless!_"He mouthed to her. She just turned away, apprehensively watching the Hat. James looked across the other House tables and saw Alice Troves give him a silent round of applause.

_Sou o Chapéu de Classificação,_

_Ele é o meu emprego, você vê,_

_Decidir que fundador em cima_

_Encontraria a sua mente uma tesouraria de tesouro._

By now the Hat was just mumbling, rather embarrassed at the whole display, and he seemed to decide to cut his song short.

Professor McGonagall stood again, with the list of first years, and started calling students up.

"Abad, Aladdin"

"_Escorregue em!_"

At this, Professor McGonagall began looking irate. The problem was, no one knew what house "_Escorregue em_" was. Professor Dumbledore rushed down and began scribbling out translations from Portuguese to English for all of the houses on a bit of parchment, briefly motioning for Aladdin Abad to step to the side for a moment. Once he finished, he passed the paper to Professor McGonagall.

"Slytherin!" announced Professor McGonagall.

The four Marauders pouted in defeat.

"We're rusty; it's been a while," whispered James.

"How were we supposed to know Dumbledore knows Portuguese?" Sirius frowned in annoyance.

"We should have done Mandarin." Remus crossed his arms.

"And we were under pressure for time," agreed Peter. The sorting process continued down the alphabet.

"Engel, Alyssa"

"_Garra de corvo!_"

"Ravenclaw!"

"Morrisson, Daniel"

"_Portia de grifo!_"

"Gryffindor!"

"Yelnats, Stanley"

"_Sopro de Huffle_"

"Hufflepuff!"

The sorting was done, and everyone had had a good laugh. As the last first year (Terri Zebo) took a seat at the Ravenclaw table, the Marauders stood and took a bow. The entirety of the chastisements they received were glares from Professor McGonagall and Lily Evans.

"Well, it was more entertaining than past feasts; I'll give them that," Lily met up with Alice right after the meal, and immediately started to complain.

"I thought it was brilliant!" Alice grinned earnestly, and paused to catch the Marauders' eyes. When she did, she bowed to them.

"Don't encourage them, Lacy." Lily frowned and turned her friend around, leading Alice up the stairs towards the place they would split to go to their separate houses. "These antics will only hurt them in the long run. They'll be far too immature to know what to do with themselves in the real world."

"So you _do_ care!" James came up behind her, slinging his right arm around her shoulders. "I always knew it, didn't I guys?" Remus, Sirius and Peter walked just behind them, and nodded through their mischievous grins.

"Not now, James. I'm trying to have a conversation with Alice." Lily shrugged the arm off her shoulders and quickened her pace.

"Fine. I'll just go bother Snivellus." Before Lily could object to this, or Alice to Lily's previous comment, James and his crew were off, and Lily was left to glare at their backs.

"He sooooooo likes you!" Alice barely bothered to wait until the group was out of earshot, and took the opportunity to squeal like the ditzy girls she despised.

"Well, that's a problem for him, then, isn't it?" Lily continued walking, and the conversation quickly changed to the past Quiddich season.

"So, any progress with her?" Remus asked James after their encounter with the two girls on their way up to the commons.

"Two sickles says Prongsie claims he has!" Sirius laid a bet; it was his response to every chancy situation.

"Two sickles says he don't answer." Peter took the bet, as always. He wasn't the best at resisting impulses, and also didn't have the best grammar.

"Meh, it's slow but steady. I have a plan." Sirius grinned at the answer, and held his hands out to collect his winnings from Peter.

"I don't think that was an answer, Padfoot." Peter crossed his arms. "It wasn't a 'yes' or 'no'."

Sirius gave Peter a glare, and the rat turned to Remus for help. Remus just rolled his eyes, and Peter ended up giving Sirius the money.

Over the summer, Remus and Sirius had probably seen the least of each other of all the boys. Remus stuck close to home, studying and dealing with his furry-little-problem while Sirius had _avoided_ home, as home meant family.

They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder, and as much as Sirius hated clichés, this became true. The more he spent time with James and even Peter, the more he thought about how Remus wasn't with them, and he soon began thinking about how everything the three of them did would've been different with Remus there.

Remus had nothing to do _but_ think, and he was good at it. While the majority of this thoughts were academic, he also thought about friends, and just as much so, Sirius.

One thing (an attention-pleading note from Sirius) lead to another (Remus crying desperately in Sirius's arms after one particularly difficult full moon), and the two ended up together, albeit shyly. Sirius felt a desperate compassion for the younger vulnerable werewolf, and Remus clung to Sirius's love, just to _be_ loved.

They grew more comfortable with each other and themselves over the summer, and were able to talk comfortably come September, when they had agreed to keep the relationship covert from James and Peter.

"I'm going to go use the bathroom, guys, before bed, 'kay?" James waved over his shoulder at the group, and took a turn, leaving Remus, Sirius and Peter to continue up to the Gryffindor common rooms themselves. Once there, Peter looked between his two friends, recalling the awkward exchange on the train, and decided to go up to bed; not wanting to be a third wheel.

"I'll see you guys in the morning, 'kay?" Peter waved back at them, already half way up the stairs. "The train ride just made me a little tired, is all."

"Yea, sure mate." Sirius gave a half wave, and reclined happily in front of the fire.

"What the hell were you thinking, on the train?" Remus glared at Sirius as soon as Peter was upstairs.

"What are you talking about?" Sirius chuckled, genuinely naïve, and scooted closer. Remus stood up, not allowing himself to be seduced.

"Coming on to me like that! In front of them! We agreed over the summer that we were going to keep this private. We don't want James and Peter to feel uncomfortable around us like Peter was just now."

"Remus, if I _hadn't_ said something like that, the whole train ride would've been weird. Besides, they were going to guess eventually anyway. It's ridiculous to attempt to keep something from a rat animagus and a teenage Gryffindor with an invisibility cloak." Sirius shrugged. "But if you want me to keep quiet about it, I will. It's sexier that way anyway; it's so Romeo and Juliet." He smirked.

Remus attempted a reprimanding look, but failed. He humphed down on the couch next to _his_ Snuffles, and smiled to himself. "I'm still mad."

Sirius kissed the top of the boy's head, and they fell asleep together on the couch, though the temporary intercession bothered Remus even in his dreams.

James took his stop in the lavatory, and, once he was done, he faced himself in the mirror. As he stood there, absentmindedly prodding his messy hair around, something in the mirror's reflection caught his eye.

On the floor under one of the stalls he could see the hand and a portion of the fallen figure of an unconscious student. He quickly turned the water off, and ran over to help, muttering a quick _Alohomora_ to the stall door.

--

**Author's Note #2: **CLIFFY! Yes, I hate reading them, but it was just farrrr too tempting. Plus, it'll keep you coming back.

I gotta say that this chapter was hugely fun for me to write. I found a lot while attempting to translate stuff for the prank. For instance, the Portuguese word for "gravy" is translated back as "lots of meat". Also, I'd like to have a disclaimer that it is very possible that none of this translation is any good at all (_especially_ the House names. Those were totally BSed). I used a very unreliable translator. I would also like to give credit to Sylvie Moonbeam for the porridge and gravy comment, as well as the Founders' nicknames. Founding Hogwarts is an excellent fic, Sylvie.

Remember to Review! I'd still like to hear your thoughts on me continuing my Voldemort fic and my Draco fic.

**A. Conscience**


	3. Chapter 3

The door to the lavatory opened, and Severus flowed out

**Author's Note:** I don't even want to check to see how long it's been since I've updated this…but I got a review, so I felt obligated. So here we are. I'm thinking of changing the formatting (for the flashbacks) around a little bit…but idk. Review me or message if you have any ideas.

**Dedications:** To angelofcandy and their killer review. And to TuRtLe88 and her killer beta-ing…which technically hasn't happened yet for this chappy, but I know it'll be _impeccable_…days of labored writing and waiting go by…and now it has. And it _was_.

**Disclamer:** Nope. Harry Potter stuff not mine. I'm not even sure I own the idea for the fanfiction…I owe a lot to my muses.

**The Life and Tomfoolery of the Marauders**

**Chapter Three**

_Flashback: First Year_

The door to the lavatory opened, and Severus flowed out. The black cloaks seemed to do that to him, James observed. Make him more flowing, that is.

_Odd,_ James thought. _I always thought that _he_ did it to the _robes_._ James's thoughts were interrupted by the feeling of black eyes on him.

"Oh. Snape. Severus. Um." James avoided eye contact. "Sorry. About earlier. It was rude of me."

Severus considered James' offered apology. "Heartfelt," he sneered, pushing past the now-fuming boy. James started to pull his wand, but Severus was already around the corner. He settled with a slump against the wall before heading back to the compartment. It had been hard for James to apologize; even if it hadn't sounded heartfelt, it was. James didn't even apologize in mockery. For him, an apology that wasn't heartfelt was one that was never said.

He absentmindedly glanced into each compartment on his way back. Two girls giggling there. A snogging couple in that one. A pack of friends. And…Severus. James stopped and peered carefully into the last compartment. Lily was gone, and Severus was chatting—no, deep in conversation—with an older blond boy. He looked to be about five years older.

James barely gave it a second thought and moved on; who said Severus couldn't have friends?

"Excuse me." A short blonde first year whom James had never met pushed past him. She was pretty, and out of habit, James watched her arse as she walked away, right into Severus's compartment.

"Okay. So he has friends." James muttered to himself and kept walking without another stop to his own compartment.

James entered the compartment and shut the door behind him, and when he looked up he noticed that Sirius was sitting with a second boy.

"Hey James! I got bored, so I pulled this guy in." Sirius smiled at him. "It's Roger, right?"

"Remus, actually." James recognized the slightly tattered brunette from earlier, when he had seen him leaving the lavatory. Remus stood and held his hand out to shake James's, who gave him a high five instead and sat down, propping his feet up.

"So, Remus. I don't think I've seen you around at all," James started small talk. "What's your name?" He meant family names. That's how James identified people.

"Lupin."

"Mmm…still nothing. Sorry…But whatever." James gave him a smile. _What makes him different from Severus? I could have ignored that outstretched hand just as easily._ "I'm James Potter, by the way. And I sincerely doubt that Sirius here has enough decorum to have introduced himself thus far."

Sirius sneered at James and reluctantly held out his hand to Remus. "Sirius Black."

--

"Shite. Shite shite shite shite shiiiiite…Snape…" James turned out of the stall, planning to shout for help in the hall, but realized how long it could take for someone to find them. It was the first night back at school, so most students were in the dorms.

James turned back, resolving to ignore the identity of the person lying there, and _leviosa_-ed the body out of the stall. As soon as the black form lifted from the ground, James knew what had happened. The black cloaks had been covering a pool of blood on the ground, still being fed from gashes on Sev—the boy's wrist. James closed his eyes at the sight, turned his head away, towards the door, and walked away, the floating body following him.

James moved the boy out in the open, set him on the bathroom floor, and ripped his own sleeve off to bind the gashes before he resumed the levitation to the infirmary.

The two didn't meet anyone on the way down; James had been right in his assumption of the students' whereabouts. James moved exponentially faster each, and his worry made the trip go quickly.

"Madame Pomfrey!" James levitated Snape into an empty hospital bed, and went to find the nurse.

Madame Pomfrey was in her small office at the end of the infirmary, and, being as easily wound up as she is, she barely waited for James to start speaking before she was out and checking Severus's vital signs.

"Where did you find him?" Pomfrey directed the question, but not her gaze, at James.

"The boy's bathroom on the 2nd floor."

"How long ago?"

"Um…"

"Speak up! Bloody teenagers, mumbling like that. How long?!"

"Ten minutes? No, more around five."

"Was he alone?"

"Yea." James's answers were growing increasingly detached.

"That's all, James. Go on to your dorm, hon'. You can come back and visit later." She turned her full attention back to Severus.

James tried not to think at all on his way back to the dorm, but found this to be a surprisingly difficult feat. He contemplated visiting Severus later, but figured that it would be too weird for the both of them. Eventually, he settled on thinking about the sorting.

He classified the prank as a success, due to their current lack of punishment and Alice's wonderful feedback. Sometimes James regretted that Lily wasn't more like Alice. But only sometimes; Alice was too intense.

He reached the Gryffindor tower, and after entering through the portrait hole, he noticed Remus and Sirius sleeping together on the couch. He smiled softly, knowing not to wake them up; they'd be embarrassed to be caught.

He continued up the stairs to the boys' dorm, where he registered that Peter was already asleep in his bed, and it was no wonder. Even Muggles were insightful enough to notice that eating a lot could make a person sleepy.

James changed into his own nightclothes and fell asleep fairly quickly, hiding his ripped robes in the bottom of his trunk, and resolving to dispose of them properly the next day. He was glad he had brought more than enough extras.

When he woke, it was still night. The air was cool and dark, and Remus and Sirius had come up to their own beds. Okay, Sirius' bed.

James turned over to fall back asleep, but caught himself. He never woke up in the middle of the night…unintentionally. He looked around to see what had caused it, and was faced with a figure at the side of his bed.

Were he more awake and his reflexes quicker, he might have jumped before he noted that it was Snape. Were he more awake and his _mind_ quicker, he might've jumped at the thought of Snape being at his bedside.

"Listen, Potter, we need to talk about what you saw. We can do it now, since you're awake anyways, or we can do it in the morning. Four A.M. too early for you?" James found that Snape sounded snide even as he whispered.

James looked around to assure that everyone else was still asleep, and nodded, "Now's fine." Snape had already turned (robes flowing with his movements) and was at the door. He pushed his covers aside and followed. James chose a seat near the fireplace in the commons, and he watched groggily as Snape chose a spot across from him on a couch.

"You're a vampire, aren't you?" James broke the ice. After a moment of silence, he continued in a more serious manner. "Are you allowed to be out of the infirmary? I mean, obviously you're not allowed to be out of your dormitory at this hour, but usually Pomfrey keeps patients overnight." Now he was babbling.

"Keep your fucking mouth shut about what you saw. It's my own business," somehow, Severus' own special brand of decorum held strong through the demand. He continued on, still ignoring James' question. "If you tell me, I'll hex you into Beauxbatons for the next million years."

James looked crestfallen. Genuinly _sad_, not the pouty version he used for attention or sympathy. "Do you really think I'm that shallow?"

Severus looked surprised for a moment, but his steely glare took over again. "You've done worse to me."

The two sat in a penitent silence for a few minutes, before James spoke again. "Will you at least tell me what happened?"

"No," with that, Severus stood, turned (robes flowing) and left through the portrait hole. James caught a glance up Severus' sleeve and noticed gratefully that he had left his bandages on.

It briefly occurred to him to question how Severus had gotten into the Gryffindor dorms, but it obviously wasn't vexing enough to keep him preoccupied. The only thing he had energy left to do before returning to sleep was check that Severus was in fact returning to the infirmary.

--

"Hey Alice!" Lily waved her best friend over from the Hufflepuff table after breakfast. "Have you talked to Sev yet today?"

"Nope…you know how he is in the mornings. _Definitely_ not an early bird…although, he seemed more standoffish today than normal." The two girls started out of the Great Hall, continuing the conversation. "Why? Did you loose your Potions notes again?" Alice smirked. It wasn't that Lily was a bad student, or bad at Potions. In fact, Potions was her second best subject next to Charms. She just took on such a heavy course load that she often became disorganized. It probably didn't help that she was also a prefect.

"No, I did _not._ They're in my dorm. I haven't lost them, I just _forgot_ them."

"You have Potions next, hon'"

Lily shut her up with a glare. "I just…could've _sworn_ I heard him raising his voice in the Gryffindor commons last night."

Alice laughed, "I sincerely don't doubt his _ability_, it's his _motive_ that I can't support. Why the hell would he be in the Gryffindor commons?"

Lily shrugged as she separated from Alice, starting to rush so that she could stop by her dorm before Potions class.

--

You know the drill. You read, you review. :D. Even if you didn't like it…please review. I sincerely do enjoy reading flames.


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